Murray’s glove hand looks like an albatross on his neck right now. It’s all he is thinking about and he is still getting beat there regularly. It’s pretty wild to watch, actually.

neither the tying goal nor the winner were about glove hand. He made a pad save on a puck that was probably going wide and it was so wide he didn't get it cleanly and ended up knocking it in. The last one, his defenseman got slew-footed and the remaining defender was too late in choosing a side to defend/taking Ovechkin out of the play.

Watching a replay of the final goal, Wilson gets Maata with a bit of a slew foot, but really a mind numblingly stupid pass to the middle of the ice by Maata.

That shit cannot be happening this deep into the playoffs against a team like WAS. Maata Oleksiak and Dumo were really bad with the turnovers tonight. Dumo played pretty well defensively but these guys just kept coughing the puck up leading mainly to odd man rushes.

Here is what needs to happen IMO:

1. Sullivan should seriously consider starting DeSmith. Murray’s head is a mess.

Which goal was bad? The PP one timer deflected by Rust? The one timer in the middle of the slot? The Ovie 2-1 breakaway?

I think the sole goal you can complain about is the Niskanen shot where Murray got a piece of it even though puck is going wide. Even then, the puck takes a crazy bounce.

Murray has to have that 3rd goal (I typed that last game). He just doesn't look confident at all. That one squeaker that dribbled over the line in the first period, the handoff pass to the wrong team. He just looks stoned out there. But how many bad goals has Holtby let in this series? None. That's a big difference from previous years.

The other key difference is the secondary scoring is gone. Brassard Kessel...yea probably both dealing with injuries but there is the difference. No one else except L1 is contributing. Where's Rust? Where's Sheary? Just ONE goal from that group would be huge

Murray has to have that 3rd goal (I typed that last game). He just doesn't look confident at all. That one squeaker that dribbled over the line in the first period, the handoff pass to the wrong team. He just looks stoned out there. But how many bad goals has Holtby let in this series? None. That's a big difference from previous years.

The other key difference is the secondary scoring is gone. Brassard Kessel...yea probably both dealing with injuries but there is the difference. No one else except L1 is contributing. Where's Rust? Where's Sheary? Just ONE goal from that group would be huge

Murray's rebound control has been pretty bad all playoffs, especially in this series. It honestly hasn't burned us anywhere near as much as it should have...or could in the future. But it's crazy how many pucks are bouncing off his chest right now. Those are the easy ones. Can't let those pucks back into the wild.

Murray has to have that 3rd goal (I typed that last game). He just doesn't look confident at all. That one squeaker that dribbled over the line in the first period, the handoff pass to the wrong team. He just looks stoned out there. But how many bad goals has Holtby let in this series? None. That's a big difference from previous years.

The other key difference is the secondary scoring is gone. Brassard Kessel...yea probably both dealing with injuries but there is the difference. No one else except L1 is contributing. Where's Rust? Where's Sheary? Just ONE goal from that group would be huge

Murray's rebound control has been pretty bad all playoffs, especially in this series. It honestly hasn't burned us anywhere near as much as it should have...or could in the future. But it's crazy how many pucks are bouncing off his chest right now. Those are the easy ones. Can't let those pucks back into the wild.

Could make the argument MM stole Game 1. And with the way the defense (the pinches and the lack of F's covering) he may have to pull 3 more of those W's out of his ass

Murray has to have that 3rd goal (I typed that last game). He just doesn't look confident at all. That one squeaker that dribbled over the line in the first period, the handoff pass to the wrong team. He just looks stoned out there. But how many bad goals has Holtby let in this series? None. That's a big difference from previous years.

The other key difference is the secondary scoring is gone. Brassard Kessel...yea probably both dealing with injuries but there is the difference. No one else except L1 is contributing. Where's Rust? Where's Sheary? Just ONE goal from that group would be huge

Murray's rebound control has been pretty bad all playoffs, especially in this series. It honestly hasn't burned us anywhere near as much as it should have...or could in the future. But it's crazy how many pucks are bouncing off his chest right now. Those are the easy ones. Can't let those pucks back into the wild.

Could make the argument MM stole Game 1. And with the way the defense (the pinches and the lack of F's covering) he may have to pull 3 more of those W's out of his ass

I don't disagree with that. I"m just saying he has to get those rebounds under control. Like I said, they haven't burned us as much as they could have. But how many goals have been narrowly missed because the Caps are getting another chance when they shouldn't be? There's been a ton. It's almost like he's using a trampoline as a chest protector. At some point, those second chances are going to start going in the net.

B2B and Zeke - oh come on now. Murray’s statistics are near the bottom of the playoff goalies. He’s been average but nowhere near what he’s capable of. It’s not hard to know what his capabilities are he’s won back to back cups.

As Lipps said, his rebound control is quite poor right now and while I don’t expect him to stop everything with the glove I do expect him to come up with Ovie’s first goal in game 2 considering he shot it about 2 feet ABOVE the circles. It was a hard shot but really slow reaction there by Murray.

And yes, in close games you expect him to make the save on Niskanen’s shot yesterday. Also, don’t forget about the first period dribbler that went right through Murray on the short side and by the graces of the hockey gods somehow stayed out. Mark it as a save but should not be getting through him like that.

he other key difference is the secondary scoring is gone. Brassard Kessel...yea probably both dealing with injuries but there is the difference. No one else except L1 is contributing. Where's Rust? Where's Sheary? Just ONE goal from that group would be huge

Kessel has not just been not scoring.

He is a complete liability whenever he's on the ice. If he's injured...and more and more I'm convinced he is...the injury is not allowing him to do ANYTHING...stickhandle, pass, skate, shoot...the way he normally does.

He was an unmitigated disaster whenever he touched the puck yesterday, save on the Malkin goal where he managed to get the defender to overplay and give Malkin room to sneak in in front of the net.

Sullivan really needs to tell him "Phil- do you want another Cup, or do you want your Ironman streak to continue?"

And then sit him down.

_________________“A set of several simple rules leads to complex, intelligent behavior. While a set of complex rules often leads to dumb and primitive behavior.”

B2B and Zeke - oh come on now. Murray’s statistics are near the bottom of the playoff goalies. He’s been average but nowhere near what he’s capable of. It’s not hard to know what his capabilities are he’s won back to back cups.

As Lipps said, his rebound control is quite poor right now and while I don’t expect him to stop everything with the glove I do expect him to come up with Ovie’s first goal in game 2 considering he shot it about 2 feet ABOVE the circles. It was a hard shot but really slow reaction there by Murray.

And yes, in close games you expect him to make the save on Niskanen’s shot yesterday. Also, don’t forget about the first period dribbler that went right through Murray on the short side and by the graces of the hockey gods somehow stayed out. Mark it as a save but should not be getting through him like that.

Just saying let’s have some perspectives on the goals. Holtby was really luck on the Geno post; he was way off his angle.

he other key difference is the secondary scoring is gone. Brassard Kessel...yea probably both dealing with injuries but there is the difference. No one else except L1 is contributing. Where's Rust? Where's Sheary? Just ONE goal from that group would be huge

Kessel has not just been not scoring.

He is a complete liability whenever he's on the ice. If he's injured...and more and more I'm convinced he is...the injury is not allowing him to do ANYTHING...stickhandle, pass, skate, shoot...the way he normally does.

He was an unmitigated disaster whenever he touched the puck yesterday, save on the Malkin goal where he managed to get the defender to overplay and give Malkin room to sneak in in front of the net.

Sullivan really needs to tell him "Phil- do you want another Cup, or do you want your Ironman streak to continue?"

And then sit him down.

And that assist from Kessel was on the PP. Phil is doing jack all at even strength. If Sprong wasn't so far in Sully's doghouse, he'd be an ideal replacement for Kessel

First off, the Pens are not intimidated by the Caps nor any other team. FFS they are the back to back defending champions that have been through more adversity the past two years than any other team since the Pens and Wings went back to back nearly a decade ago.So drop that angle.

Holtby has been better than Murray. That much is simple to understand. Doesn't mean that Murray doesn't find his game again or that Holtby will continue with his good play.

Credit to the Capitols because they have jammed the Pens up in the middle of the ice and have limited our OZ possession time. Ovie has been huge for them.

It's hard to blame specific players in this series because of the injuries. Hagelin's speed is missed and thankfully the PK has been good in his absence. If anything, the Pens are facing more on the injury front then they had at any point the last two years. Luck is important in winning championships.

One thing that bothers me is that this team in this series is much like the team that struggled during portions of the regular season. Again, give the Caps some credit here. The pinching and poor forward coverage is still an issue.

Another thing I have noticed in this series is that when Maata and Letang have the puck at the point near the blue line the Caps send a forward directly at them. They have chased Schultz and Oleksiak but they haven't charged at those two as often as they did with 58 and 3. Look at last night for instance-Ovie saw Letang dangling on the blue line and went after him. Letang had time to make a play but he froze and gave the puck up and ended up taking a penalty in his own end. It was pretty much the same with Maata(though he got tripped) when the Caps scored late. Get the puck deep.

I guess we have to pick a scapegoat, that is what fans do. And right now Kessel is that guy. I have no idea what is wrong with him but don't count him out, not yet. And if you replace him please don't substitute Sprong. I like Sprong but the dynamic with Sprong/Sully is important. One mistake and Sully will bench him at any point in the game and will do so for the rest of the game unless there are injuries. So if you do replace him it has to be with a player that Sully trusts and that isn't Sprong right now.

On the positive side, the PP looked better and that was going to happen once Malkin was back. Maybe we can get to Holtby in game 4 with the PP.

First off, the Pens are not intimidated by the Caps nor any other team. FFS they are the back to back defending champions that have been through more adversity the past two years than any other team since the Pens and Wings went back to back nearly a decade ago.So drop that angle.

Holtby has been better than Murray. That much is simple to understand. Doesn't mean that Murray doesn't find his game again or that Holtby will continue with his good play.

Credit to the Capitols because they have jammed the Pens up in the middle of the ice and have limited our OZ possession time. Ovie has been huge for them.

It's hard to blame specific players in this series because of the injuries. Hagelin's speed is missed and thankfully the PK has been good in his absence. If anything, the Pens are facing more on the injury front then they had at any point the last two years. Luck is important in winning championships.

One thing that bothers me is that this team in this series is much like the team that struggled during portions of the regular season. Again, give the Caps some credit here. The pinching and poor forward coverage is still an issue.

Another thing I have noticed in this series is that when Maata and Letang have the puck at the point near the blue line the Caps send a forward directly at them. They have chased Schultz and Oleksiak but they haven't charged at those two as often as they did with 58 and 3. Look at last night for instance-Ovie saw Letang dangling on the blue line and went after him. Letang had time to make a play but he froze and gave the puck up and ended up taking a penalty in his own end. It was pretty much the same with Maata(though he got tripped) when the Caps scored late. Get the puck deep.

I guess we have to pick a scapegoat, that is what fans do. And right now Kessel is that guy. I have no idea what is wrong with him but don't count him out, not yet. And if you replace him please don't substitute Sprong. I like Sprong but the dynamic with Sprong/Sully is important. One mistake and Sully will bench him at any point in the game and will do so for the res t of the game unless there are injuries. So if you do replace him it has to be with a player that Sully trusts and that isn't Sprong right now.

On the positive side, the PP looked better and that was going to happen once Malkin was back. Maybe we can get to Holtby in game 4 with the PP.

I still think this series goes 7 games.

From an offensive standpoint, anyone not named Sid, Patrick, or Jake is a scapegoat.

But I single out Kessel because he's so bad at EVERYTHING a hockey player should do right now.

_________________“A set of several simple rules leads to complex, intelligent behavior. While a set of complex rules often leads to dumb and primitive behavior.”

For whatever reasons, Sullivan does not want him out there on game day. And I'm not saying his reasons aren't valid, and I'm not saying they are. I have no idea what those reasons are. I just think we're way past the point of being shocked when Sprong isn't the next guy to get a sweater.